Dead Like Bleach
by glainfach
Summary: A crossover between 'Dead Like Me' and 'Bleach'. What might happen if Georgia gets transfered to Japan while the Bleach crew are off rescuing Rukia in the Soul Society. Explores the differences between American and Japanese concepts of life after death.
1. Chapter 1

_Many thanks to ThePowerPanda for pointing out a glaring error on my part__ Thanks to the Panda's diligence Der Waffle Haus and its patrons have been returned to Seattle where they belong._

**Dead Like Bleach**  
by Juliet Carnell  
based on the TV series 'Dead Like Me' by Bryan Fuller  
and the anime series 'Bleach' by Tite Kubo

**Friday**

Georgia wandered into Der Waffle Haus, late as usual, and found Rube already sitting with Roxy in his customary booth. As she slid in next to Roxy she waved to Kiffany and their usual waitress came to the table carrying an empty mug and a full pot of coffee.

"You eating anything this morning?" Kiffany asked as she poured the coffee.

"She'll have the blueberry waffles," Rube said before Georgia could respond for herself. "It's definitely a blueberry waffle day."

Georgia looked at Rube's plate then said, "But you're having bacon and eggs?"

Rube smiled and said, "Someday when you can't get blueberry waffles, you'll wish you'd had them today."

Looking up at Kiffany she asked, "Have you ever 'not' had blueberry waffles?"

"Nope."

"Then I'll have oatmeal."

"Don't say I didn't try," Rube said before stuffing a bite of egg into his mouth.

"Where the hell are Mason and Daisy?" Roxy asked grouchily. "I've got to get to work."

"Don't worry yourself, Roxy my dear," Mason said as he and Daisy walked in behind them. "The dream team is here!"

"Make that the in your dreams team," Daisy said as she slid into the booth next to Rube.

"Can I get you anything?" Kiffany asked Mason.

"What do you recommend?" Mason said as he settled in beside Georgia.

"I hear the blueberry waffles are popular," the large black woman said in a deadpan voice.

"I notice no one is actually _having_ blueberry waffles," Mason said as he scanned the table.

"Rube's pushing blueberry waffles this morning," Georgia said with a weary grin as she blew on her coffee.

"Really? Is Rube _paying_ for blueberry waffles this morning?"

"Not a chance." Rube said as he shoveled in another mouthful.

"In that case," Mason said disappointedly, "I'll have to pass."

"Nothing for me either, Kiffany," Daisy said with a smile.

After Kiffany delivered Georgia's oatmeal, Rube pulled out his wallet and began handing everyone their death notices. Georgia glanced at the little yellow sticky note, but didn't notice anything unusual at first. She set it down beside her bowl and continued to eat her oatmeal.

"Well," Mason said rubbing his hands together, "I must be off, souls to reap, larcenies to commit."

"I better get going too," Roxy said picking up her hat from the table. "Daisy, you want a ride?"

"Thanks," Daisy said as she hopped up.

"Okay, George," Roxy said to the girl sitting beside her, "let me out."

Georgia scooped up one last mouthful of oatmeal, grabbed her death notice and slid off the seat. As she turned to leave with the others, Rube called out to her.

"Hold on, Peanut," he said. "Sit back down and finish your oatmeal. I've got something to talk to you about."

Georgia watched the other three soul reapers walk out of the restaurant and waved after them, "See you guys tonight." Then she sat down and resumed her breakfast.

Rube leaned forward with an intense look on his face that might have been sadness. "Don't you have any questions about the assignment I just gave you?" he asked.

Georgia looked once again at the little yellow note. It looked pretty much like they all did. It had a name, "K. Urahara", an address, "44 Sakura Yokocho, Karakura" and strangely a date instead of a time.

"What's with this address? Is it somewhere in Chinatown? And how come it just says the day after tomorrow, what gives? Can a deader wait that long?"

"That's not a deader, that's your new boss," Rube said with a pained look. "George, you're being reassigned and that address is in Tokyo, Japan."

Georgia slowly placed the spoon full of oatmeal back in the bowl and took another long look at the note before responding loudly. "Say what?"

"A team leader in Karakura has requested assistance. They need a temporary soul reaper because the regular team is dealing with some kind of problem. Someone above me felt you could benefit from the experience."

"But… Japan?" Georgia said with a stunned expression. "That's like… on the other side of the planet. How am I supposed to get there?"

Rube grinned. "I'd suggest an airplane."

Georgia stared into her oatmeal. "How much does something like that cost?"

"I don't know," Rube said rolling his eyes dramatically. "About seven hundred sixty eight dollars and twenty eight cents I'd guess."

Georgia's shoulders slumped. "Where am I supposed to get that kind of money? There's no way Happy Time's going to advance me that much… Hey, what am I supposed to do about my job… and my family? I can't leave here."

Rube wrung his hands together. "Peanut, your job is reaping souls and you don't have a family any more. You're dead, I keep telling you that. I think one of the reasons you were picked for this job is to get you away from here so you'll understand that better."

"Okay," Georgia wasn't convinced. There had to be a way out of this. "But why Japan? How am I supposed to reap souls there? I can't speak Japanese."

"Can you speak Spanish?" Rube asked with a lift of one eyebrow.

"A little, but I don't want to be assigned to Mexico City either."

"Did you have any trouble reaping Mrs. Gonzales last week? She never learned a word of English, but she could understand you and you could understand her. That's part in parcel with being a soul reaper and it'll work the same way in Japan."

Rube was chasing her into a corner. She had to think fast, there must be some way out of this. Then it came to her and with a big grin she said, "How am I supposed to go to another country if I don't have a passport? Those things take months to get."

"Yes they do," Rube said, matching her grin. "Which is why I applied for one as soon as you became a reaper." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a little blue book with plane tickets folded inside and handed it to Georgia.

She opened up the brand new passport and looked at the picture of Mildred Hagen, her reaper identity. The tickets were for a coach seat on a flight leaving Sea-Tac International that night. "You think of everything don't you, Rube?"

"That's _my_ job, Peanut." Rube said with a smile. "I'm going to miss you, kid. I hope this really is just a temporary assignment, but if it's not I want you to know I've really enjoyed working with you."

Rube stood up and wrapped a rubber band around his wallet. He stuck out his hand and Georgia shook it half-heartedly. Then he left her staring into her oatmeal.

Kiffany walked up with a coffee pot in her hand. "You want a refill?"

Georgia looked up at the only living person she ever seemed to have conversations with. "Kiffany, do they have blueberry waffles in Japan?"

o o o

The first thing Georgia discovered after landing at Tokyo's Narita International Airport was that while she might be able to understand dead Japanese people, the living ones all spoke gibberish. She made it through customs without a problem in spite of not understanding half of what the young customs officer said to her in what passed for English here.

However, once she made it to the main concourse the full impact of what she was up against hit her. Only about half the signs included English translations, the rest all looked like biker tattoos. All around her was a babble of incomprehensible chatter that was quickly giving her a headache. Announcements over the public address system sounded exotic, but were as meaningless as graffiti on a Ravenna Boulevard overpass.

Several people stopped and asked, "Mayo tea in mask, eh?" Georgia decided just to shake her head and smile rather than commit to trying to understand them. Then a strange looking guy in a Hawaiian shirt and a green stripped hat walked up to her and said, "You must be the replacement. I'm Urahara. Let's be kind to one another."

Georgia blinked in surprise. It was like watching an old monster movie. The man's mouth moved one way, but the words she heard didn't match up. She was still hearing him speak long after he stopped talking.

"Uh... yeah. I'm George."

"I thought George was a boy's name in America?" Urahara said with a grin.

"Well, it's actually Georgia."

"Isn't that a state?"

"Yeah, but it can also be a girl's name. Are you my new boss?"

Urahara leered. "You're a pretty good looking foreigner. I was expecting a big black guy for some reason. We better get going or we'll miss the next train."

"Train?" Georgia said in confusion. "I thought your place was here in Tokyo."

Urahara laughed, "We're not _in_ Tokyo. Tokyo proper is a two hour ride from here and in Japan you go _everywhere_ on the train. You'll get the hang of it. You able to read much Japanese?"

"None."

"Too bad, I'll try and find you an English map. Is it true you were hit by a falling toilet seat?"

Georgia hung her head and mumbled, "Yes."

"We don't get a lot of falling toilet seats in Japan. We don't get that many murders either, so I hope you won't get bored. You'll mostly be dealing with traffic accidents and suicides. We get a lot of those. We've got a bit of a backlog right now, so I hope you don't suffer from jet lag too much."

"If you don't mind my asking, why am I here? Rube mentioned you were having some kind of problem?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, I'll explain when we get back to the store. Tell me, do you like fried octopus balls?"

Georgia was certain there had to be something wrong with her soul reaper translator. At least she hoped Urahara hadn't actually said what she thought he just said.

o o o

"Tell me you're joking."

Georgia stared through the hole in the basement floor at the unbelievably huge cavern below. A simple metal ladder was attached to one side and extended down seemingly forever.

"You're not afraid of heights, are you?" Urahara said with a grin. "Even if you fall, you know you can't die again."

"Actually I was a bit more worried about the climb back up."

The man in sandals and the oddly striped hat chuckled. "Suit yourself, but I need to be down there tonight and you need some training. I can't be in two places at once, so make up your mind and meet me at the bottom."

With that Urahara swung his legs around the ladder and started swiftly lowering himself into the hole.

Georgia sighed. Hadn't these people ever heard of elevators? They seemed to have every other imaginable modern gadget. On the train ride from the airport she'd seen more cell phones, mp3 players, and laptop computers than at a Radio Shack convention.

With a resigned shrug, she looped her handbag over her head, grabbed the sides of the ladder and started the long climb down. When her foot suddenly touched the floor of the cavern several seconds later, she nearly fell over.

"Don't assume everything is as it appears, Georgia-san. Did you really think there was a huge cavern physically under the streets of Tokyo? Come on, I'll introduce you to my team."

They walked deeper into the cavern until they met a group of teenagers. There was a tall boy with blond hair and oriental eyes, a broad shouldered boy who looked more polynesian, a girl with orangey colored hair and a nerdy looking guy with glasses. There was also a black cat, which eyed her suspiciously.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Georgia. She's a death god from America and she'll be filling in for Ichigo while you're all in the Soul Society."

The tall blond boy said in translated English, "Nice to meet ya. I'm Ichigo." But the others all babbled at her in Japanese.

Georgia's pointed at the teens. "Um… they're not dead. I thought you said this was your team?"

Urahara grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Well, technically only Ichigo is a death god and he was only a temp until just a few of days ago. The rest of these kids are just... well, gifted humans. By the way, in Japan it's not polite to point at people."

"Uh... I - am – sorry!" She said loudly and slowly. Then she tried to bow to the kids the way she'd seen people at the airport bowing.

The girl giggled and walked up to her. "No need shout, Georgia-san. Most us know little bit English. My name Orihime Inoue. This Chad Sado and Uryuu Ishida."

The two boys bowed, but the blond boy in black said crossly, "Inoue, what are you doing? She speaks Japanese just fine."

Urahara laughed. "Relax, Ichigo, I'll explain later. I'm going to get Georgia-san settled and then we'll set up the portal. You guys should start getting ready."

As Urahara led her away Georgia asked, "What's with all this 'death god' business? I'm a soul reaper."

"Not while you're in Japan. Here you're a god, but don't let it go to your head. In Japan, even flowerpots have gods of their own. Now, let me introduce my real team."

They walked up to a rather large man wearing a leather apron and two children. The big man and the little girl bowed when Urahara introduced her, but the little boy just crossed his arms and said, "You send for replacements and _this_ is all you get? She's not even Asian, much less Japanese."

"Shut up, Jinta." Georgia noted that even when he was speaking harshly, Urahara's smile never faltered. "For obvious reasons I couldn't ask the Soul Society for a replacement. If you go to the Americans for help, you're going to get an American."

"You expect _her_ to go up against Hollows?"

"No, I expect you to handle all of that. Georgia-san is going to do all the soul reaping Rukia was _supposed_ to do when she came here." A cane suddenly appeared in Urahara's hand and he cracked it across the boy's head before he could say anything else. "I'm sorry, Georgia-san. This rude young man is Jinta and the far more polite young lady is his partner Ururu. And this is my assistant, Tessai."

The big man bowed again. "My pleasure, miss."

Georgia returned the bow. All this bowing was beginning to give her a backache.

"Tessai, did you bring everything?"

"Of course." He handed Urahara a cell phone and a bundle of black clothing.

Urahara turned to Georgia and handed her the phone. "You'll get your assignments on this. Don't worry that it's Japanese, you'll be able to read the death notices. It has a GPS function, so you shouldn't have any problem finding your way around. This used to belong to another death god named Rukia, so if it rings don't answer it."

Georgia flipped open the phone and sure enough the display was covered with incomprehensible Japanese characters. "What happened to this Rukia?"

Everyone got really quiet and Urahara's smile faded for the first time. "She made a few mistakes and now she's in trouble with the Soul Society, what you might call the Other Side. That's where Ichigo and the others are headed tonight. They're going to try and save her."

Georgia's mind reeled. "They're… going to the Other Side? But three of them aren't even dead… and how's the blond kid going to get there? I was told soul reapers couldn't cross over."

Jinta snickered again, which earned him another crack over the head from Urahara's cane. "In general that's true. Death gods recruited from the living aren't usually allowed in the Soul Society, but this is a special case. I'll be setting up a portal for them to pass through, but it's not exactly standard practice."

"He means it's illegal and we could all get in trouble for it." Jinta said defiantly before he ducked out of the way of another swipe of Urahara's cane.

"Anyway," Urahara's smile returned. "That's nothing for you to worry about. The four of us are staying behind, but we'll be busy with other things. All I need you to do is catch up with the soul reaping around here while they're gone."

"Okay…" Georgia had a sneaking suspicion there was more to all this than they were letting on, but if all she had to do was reap a few souls and then hopefully go home in a week who cared about what they were hiding. "I guess I can handle that."

"Good! Oh, there are a few things you need to know about reaping souls in Japan. First, you'll need to wear these when you're doing it." Urahara took the black robes from Tessai and handed them to her. "These are the same type of robes Ichigo was wearing."

"You expect me to walk around Tokyo dressed up like Tom Cruse in The Last Samurai?"

"No, these are spectral robes, they'll only show up when you're actually reaping. You'll also need this…"

Like some birthday party magician, Urahara reached past Georgia's left hip and out of nowhere produced a long black sword in a wooden scabbard. He held it out to her, but something about the weapon frightened her. Georgia didn't want to touch it.

"Go on, take it. This is your Soul Slayer and you'll need it to release and bury the souls of the dead here. You can't just touch people the way they do in the West. In Japan we are bound by very ancient customs."

Georgia reached out and tentatively gripped the handle of the sword. Instantly she felt her corporeal body melt away as it usually did right after she reaped a soul. Looking down she found herself already dressed in the black robes of a death god. "Whoa!"

"I know, it's a bit dramatic," Urahara said as he let go of the sword and Georgia felt its full weight. "But even in modern Japan the traditions of the samurai still run deep. Use the blade to release the souls of the living the same way you have been. Then use the other end to bury the soul and send it on its way. Be careful with this thing, even though the blade won't cut living flesh it'll slice through you like tofu."

Georgia drew the blade out of its cover and gazed at the polished surface. "You actually reap souls with this thing?"

"Up until the second world war, American death gods were still lugging around scythes to mow people down with. I think it was seeing us with our soul slayers that made them decide to do away with the ungodly things."

Georgia snapped the sword back into its case. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. I've never even held a sword before. Now you want me to swing this thing at people?"

"You don't have to become a swordsman, just take it out and touch them with it if that's all you want to do. Look, I've got to go get those kids on their way. You stay over here and practice for a while. You'll get the feel of it soon enough. Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, let's go. That portal isn't going to create itself."

Georgia watched them walk away and shook her head. "This is crazy. I'm not a samurai, what if I cut my arm off with this thing?"

"You stick it back on until it heals."

She looked around for the source of the deep voice, but the only thing nearby was the black cat from before. "Don't tell me, you're a death god too?"

The cat looked up and then its mouth moved. "Very good. Either that was a lucky guess or you're smarter than you let on. My name's Yoruichi Shihouin by the way. Urahara always forgets to introduce me. I have a little time before I must leave with the others, if you'd like I can show you how to use your soul slayer."

Georgia rolled her eyes up and looked at the long ladder leading to the tiny hole in the roof of the cavern. "I get it now. That's the rabbit hole, I'm Alice and you're the Cheshire cat…" When she looked back down again the cat was gone, replaced by a naked woman with eggplant colored hair and a tan so dark it made George Hamilton look pale.

"The first thing you need to learn is how to draw your sword," Yoruichi said as she walked behind Georgia and guided the hand gripping the sword down to her side. The woman's bare breasts pressed into Georgia's back as she continued to explain how to hold and draw the weapon. All Georgia could think about was how much Mason would love to be in her place right about now.

x x x

All characters in this story are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental.

This work is copyright © 2007 by Juliet Carnell, it is not public domain and all rights are reserved. This work is not for publication. This work may not be reproduced, distributed or sold in any format or media. This work may not be included in any collection without the express written permission of the author. The reader may make one printed or electronic copy of this work for personal use.

Characters and story elements that have appeared in 'Dead Like Me' are copyright © 2003-2004 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and are used here without license.

Characters and story elements that have appeared in 'Bleach' are copyright © 2004-2006 by Tite Kubo and are used here without license.


	2. Chapter 2

**Monday**

The alarm clock stopped beeping when Georgia's hand smashed down on top of it. She looked at the clock's face and then at the sunlight streaming in the window. It just wasn't fair to be getting up when her internal clock was telling her it was time for dinner.

She sat up groggily and swung her legs around to stand up, but when her heels hit the floor she remembered she was on a futon rather than a bed. As she dragged herself up off the floor, she consoled herself that Urahara had given her a place to sleep above the store. She would have been hard pressed to find someplace to live in a city where she couldn't even read a newspaper to check the obituaries.

After washing her face and dressing in what she hoped was an appropriate outfit for a foreign death god in Japan, she marched down the stairs and found Urahara, Tessai and the kids kneeling at a low table in the middle of the floor.

"I see you finally woke up, Lazy-bones-san."

"Leave her alone, Jinta." Ururu said. "Haven't you ever heard of jet-lag?"

"Good morning, Miss." Tessai said. "Won't you join us for breakfast?"

Georgia's stomach growled at the very mention of food, but when she took a look at what was on the table she lost her appetite. "Um… I'm not really hungry. Is that fish?"

"We usually eat a very traditional Japanese breakfast." Urahara explained five minutes later as he stood with Georgia outside the little store. "But there's a nice bakery with a coffee bar just around the corner at the other end of this street."

He'd just given Georgia some money, mostly rather large coins with holes in them, and a rail pass for her to use in getting around. "Thanks, I'll give it a try. There wouldn't happen to be a waffle house anywhere nearby, would there?"

"What's a waffle house?" Urahara asked with a grin. He waved and walked back into the store while Georgia turned and headed down the street.

She was halfway through a cup of strong coffee and a stale danish when the cell phone started vibrating. She pulled it out and stared at the confusing display for a few seconds before tapping a button with a picture of an envelope on it. The display changed into English words, "K. Tanaka, Lat. 35.45.21.99 N, Lon. 139.31.32.26 E". There was a little globe with the letters GPS on it spinning in the lower left corner, but nowhere on the display could she find a time when she was supposed to be there.

"Guess I'll just go and wait." She pressed the button under the spinning GPS globe and the display changed to a map with a bright purple line zigzagging along the streets. She wolfed down the rest of her danish, chugged as much of the coffee as she could stand and headed out the door.

After walking for thirty minutes, she found herself standing in front of a noisy arcade of some kind. Looking in the window all she could see were row after row of something that looked like a cross between a pinball game and a slot machine. Even this early in the morning the place was packed with men and women intently watching tiny steel marbles fall through the machines.

Georgia checked her phone again to make doubly sure this was the place where K. Tanaka was supposed to be then she gathered up her courage and strolled into the smoke filled establishment. She walked all the way through the place twice, but it was hopeless. Not only didn't she have a clue what this place was, not only didn't she have a way to ask anyone their name, but the thick cigarette smoke was beginning to make her dizzy.

Then she noticed a young man standing behind two other men at the end of one of the rows of machines. What made him noticeable was the large chain hanging from a loop imbedded in his chest. Someone walked right through him and she knew she had her man. She would have felt bad about not getting there in time to release him, but she was too confused about why he was already free of his body. Speaking of which, where was the dead body?

Remembering that she was supposed to use the soul slayer, Georgia looked around to make sure she wasn't being watched and then reached for the invisible sword hanging at her side. She was instantly transformed into a black robed spiritual being. A broad grin spread across her face as she whispered, "This _is_ kind of cool."

She walked up to the dead man and asked rather bluntly, "Hey, are you K. Tanaka?"

The man looked up and almost had a heart attack, well he would have if he'd still had a heart. "Y-y-you can see me? Who are you?"

"I'm a death…" Georgia shook her head and tried not to laugh at herself. "Sorry this is a little embarrassing. I'm a death _god_ and I'm here to help you."

"Really? A death god?" The man looked somewhat relieved, but also a little terrified. Before Georgia could say anything else, the machine they were standing next to paid off and the sound of ringing bells and the crash of hundreds of little balls falling into the payout tray drowned out anything else she tried to say. She motioned for Mr. Tanaka to follow her outside.

"I'm really sorry about not getting here sooner," she said when they were in the relative quiet of the busy street. "Just how long have you been dead?"

Mr. Tanaka, still looking a bit shaken, managed to say, "About a month. I think."

"A month?" Georgia did a double take before remembering Urahara had said something about a backlog. "You've been dead for a whole month? What have you been doing with yourself?"

"Oh, mostly hanging out here at the pachinko parlor or down at the karaoke club. I like singing with the young girls who come there after school."

"If you don't mind my asking, how exactly did you die, Mr. Tanaka?"

"I was crossing the street over by the middle school where I teach science and a truck hit me. At first I couldn't move and had to just sit and watch them put my body into an ambulance, but then this chain snapped and I've been free to walk around wherever I want."

"Well I'm really sorry about the long wait. The local death gods are a little backed up and today's my first day. If you're ready we can get you on your way now."

"On my way? I don't want to go anywhere. I like it here."

"Mr. Tanaka, you're dead. You can't just hang around forever. That'd make you a ghost and believe me it's no fun hanging around the living when you're dead."

"You can't make me go if I have regrets."

Georgia blinked. She'd racked up quite a few reaps back home and this was the first time anyone had refused to go to the other side. "You have regrets, Mr. Tanaka?"

"Well… yeah. I guess so."

"Like what?"

The man looked around frantically and finally his eyes landed on the pachinko machines. "I regret never having won big at pachinko."

"Really now, Mr. Tanaka. Don't you think if that were a legitimate regret this place would be overrun with ghosts? I don't see any other spirits here, do you?"

"Well no, but I just don't want to go."

"I think you'd really be happier on the other side. They call it the Soul Society over here and it sounds like a nice place."

"Do they have karaoke?"

"I don't really know, Mr. Tanaka. They won't let us death gods go there." At least they wouldn't let her go there, but she'd watched four teenagers and a black cat who could turn into a naked woman cross over last night.

"I don't know…"

"I can't just leave you here, Mr. Tanaka. Now, I do have this big sword, but I'd prefer not to use it." Georgia pulled the soul slayer out of its scabbard and it flashed brightly in the morning sunshine.

The man's eyes got large and he swallowed hard. Without taking his eyes from the sword he said demurely, "I-I guess it wouldn't be so bad. Crossing over that is." He fell to his knees and closed his eyes.

Georgia stared at the ghost and then at the soul slayer in her hands. Was the thing really that much of a cultural icon over here? She shrugged and turned the pummel towards the man as Yoruichi had shown her the night before. Then she taped him lightly on the forehead with it.

A familiar golden light danced across the man's skin as his whole body began to fold in on itself. Within seconds it collapsed into a tiny ball of light which faded away to reveal a black butterfly. The tiny creature fluttered around Georgia's head for a moment and then a ring of light appeared in the sky overhead. The butterfly circled upwards until it was lost in the light. The light disappeared and with it the butterfly that had been Mr. Tanaka.

"Well, that was different." Georgia carefully returned the soul slayer to its sheath and let go. She felt weight return to her legs as her corporeal body returned. With a smile she stretched her arms and wandered off down the street. "I wonder what I should do for the rest of the day?" she asked herself just seconds before the cell phone began to vibrate again.

o o o

She stood on the subway platform and gazed out at the sea of people waiting for the approaching train. How in the world was she supposed to find M. Sato in this mob? The train roared into the station and rolled to a stop. As soon as the doors opened there was a surge forward. Within a minute the platform was empty and the train was heading out again. The few people who had gotten off trickled down the staircases leaving Georgia alone.

Alone except for one young girl in a blue school uniform with a white sailor collar. She was holding a backpack in her arms, hugging it tightly to her chest as she shuffled closer to the edge of the platform. Georgia looked at the girl with dread and checked the display on her phone again. The time listed beside the name was now less than ten minutes away.

As the platform began to fill up once again, Georgia approached the girl. When they were standing next to one another she noticed the traces of tears on the girl's cheeks. After glancing at her cell phone again she turned and asked in English, "Excuse me, do you know what time the next train is coming?"

The girl looked up at her and Georgia could see the empty desperation in her eyes. "Turain come in… seben minute."

"Thank you. You speak English very well. My name's Georgia Lass."

"My name Miko Sato. You from America?"

Georgia nodded. "Yes, I'm from Seattle."

"You wait other end. For women only, not get touched there."

"Oh really? I didn't know that. Shouldn't you be waiting there too?"

"No. Miko wait here."

Georgia smiled sadly, "Okay. Thank you for your help, Miko Sato."

The girl bowed and then turned back to staring at the tracks. Georgia melted into the growing crowd and worked her way to the back. She leaned heavily against the chain link fence looking out over the crowded street below. "God, she's the same age as Reggie. I _really_ hate this job…" Griping the soul slayer she headed back to the platform's edge.

Standing on the bumpy surface at the very edge of the platform with the brilliant light of the noonday sun reflecting off the polished blade of her sword she reminded herself this was no different than rubbing the girl's shoulder or touching her hair. She swung the soul slayer in a broad awkward arc that sliced harmlessly through two men in business suits before it passed effortlessly through Miko. The girl glowed briefly with a golden light and then Georgia heard the sound of a chain breaking.

That was followed by the rumbling sound of a train approaching the station. Georgia stood her ground, sword in hand as the massive wall of glass and steel roared past her and screeched to a halt. This time the crowd did not surge forward, they pulled back instead and Georgia was left standing alone next to the spirit of Miko Sato.

"You're the American lady, from before, aren't you?"

Georgia nodded. "Want to go for a walk with me and tell me all about it?"

"Okay. How come you only spoke English before?"

Georgia put her sword away and draped her arm around Miko's shoulder, leading her away from the gory mess that covered the front of the train. "It's a long story. Tell me, Miko, do you like butterflies?"

o o o

Georgia stood in the empty courtyard surrounded by tall apartment buildings. For the third time she took a step to the right and the phone in her hand made a rude noise. She stepped back and it fell silent. "Okay. I'm in the exact spot at the right time, but no one's here." There was the sound of breaking glass above her and she looked up just as a dark form arced out from a balcony ten floors up.

"Oh shit!"

She scrambled to get a grip on the soul slayer and draw it from the scabbard. Trusting it blindly into the air above her head she felt the blade slice through the falling body and then the body fell right through her.

"Aw crap, that was just disgusting!" Georgia shuddered all over as she quickly hopped away from the growing pool of blood at her feet. When she was clear of the body she looked up to find a young woman standing a few feet away staring at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean you were disgusting. It's just what happened was…"

"I can't believe he was serious," the woman looked a little stunned. "He actually pushed me out the window!"

"He who?" Just then Georgia felt her phone vibrating. She flipped it open, took one look at the display, pushed the woman aside and thrust the soul slayer above her head again just in time to have it impale another falling body. When she finished trembling, she opened her eyes and saw the spirit of the young woman slapping that of an older man.

"Daddy, how could you?"

Georgia advanced on the two spirits, the soul slayer swinging threateningly in front of her. "Listen up! In a minute you two are going to explain this to me, but right now tell me one thing."

The two startled looking spirits nodded in unison.

"Is there anyone else up there about to fall _through_ me?"

o o o

"Georgia-san, you look tired." Urahara was sitting at the same low table where his team had been gathered for breakfast.

She stared at the man menacingly. "Back home we do one, maybe two reaps a day. Most people aren't happy about dying, but at least they don't have any problem with moving on to the other side. So far today I've done three traffic accidents, two suicides, one murder/suicide and four souls who've just been hanging out for over a month because no one ever showed up to reap them.

"And without fail, every single one of them gave me a hard time. What is it with you Japanese and your regrets? I had regrets when I died, lots of them, but nobody asked me about them."

"And I notice you're not on the other side yet." Urahara said with a sly grin. "There's some dinner left, if you're interested. We had sea urchin roe in honor of your first day at work."

"No thanks. I don't even know what that is and it sounds revolting. I stopped at a McDonalds on the way here and managed to mime my way through a Big Mac and fries. I'm going to go to bed now and try to convince my body that it's not eight o'clock in the morning."

"Perhaps I can help you there, Georgia-san. Come, sit and have a drink." Urahara held up little white bottle and swung it back and forth invitingly.

Reluctantly Georgia crossed the room and lowered herself wearily to the floor. Urahara poured some of the clear rice wine into a little porcelain cup and handed it to her. Georgia took a sip, it had an odd sweet flavor, but it packed the kind of wallop she needed right now. She drained the little cup and held it out for a refill.

"You know, Georgia-san." Urahara said quietly as he refilled her cup. "One of the things which most uniquely defines a culture is how it deals with death. Take America for example. There death is viewed as a transition from Earth to Heaven. People become confused when they die and don't find themselves instantly transported to some pearly gate where winged angels ask them if they're worthy to enter."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before." Georgia drained her cup again and felt the warmth from the alcohol seep into her frayed nerves, calming them.

"Your job then is to hurry them on their way. Whether the destination is what they expected it to be isn't your concern, just as long as you don't make them wait. But here in Japan death is seen as a journey, with a well defined beginning, middle and end. People here don't expect to be whisked off somewhere else right away."

"So you're saying I should just let them wander off by themselves and become ghosts?"

"Oh no, I'm definitely not saying that. Souls who hang around too long can become something much worse than a ghost. However, once you've severed their chain of fate you don't have to bury their souls right away. Give them some time to make the journey from life on Earth to life in the Soul Society. The cell phone will lead you back to them before their chain grows too short."

"What's with that chain anyway? I've never seen anything like that before."

"It's symbolic of the link people have with this world. Usually it connects them to their body, but it can also connect them to places or things in this world. Once it's broken, whether by your soul slayer or by the plus themselves, it begins to deteriorate. The shorter it gets the less time they have. When it's all gone they're transformed into something else, something not of this world or of the Soul Society."

"Sounds like a graveling."

Urahara smiled. "Yes, I believe that's what you call them. Here they're called hollows."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen a graveling… err… hollow all day."

Urahara fidgeted with the bottle of sake and his own cup. Without looking up he said, "I'm hoping you won't run into any of them, Georgia-san. That could present a bit of a problem." He looked up with his usual grin and held the bottle out to her. "Let's finish this off and then I'll let you go to bed."

x x x

Author's Notes:

(1) Time difference – the time difference between Tokyo and Seattle during the summer is 16 hours ahead. So when it's 8:00 am in Tokyo it's 4:00 pm the day before in Seattle.

(2) Futon – Japanese futons do not have couch like frames like those in the west, they are just mattresses which lay on the floor.

(3) Japanese breakfast – in Japan the morning meal is not much different from other meals and will traditionally include rice, miso soup, a vegetable and a meat which is often dried or smoked fish with the head left on.

(4) Pachinko – is like an upright pinball machine played with hundreds of little steel balls about the size of a pea. Supposedly for amusement only, most parlors have some way to actually pay off winners in cash.

(5) Women's only car – the incidents of women being groped on crowded subway cars has grown to be such a huge problem that most trains now have designated female only cars during rush hours.

(6) Sea urchin roe – the eggs of a sea urchin, considered a delicacy in Japan it is often referred to by tourists as "an acquired taste".

(7) The third reap – just a note about the murder/suicide depicted here. It came from an actual news account that happened in a Tokyo suburb last summer. A father threw his 20-something daughter out of a fourteenth floor window and then jumped out after her. They never discovered why he did this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wednesday**

"How much longer do I have to sit here and watch you eat?"

Georgia looked up from the rather excellent bowl of pork soup and glanced at the short portly little ghost in a cheap business suit sitting beside her at the counter. She slurped up the rest of her noodles loudly, just as Mr. Y. Takahashi had advised, and then turned to face him. "Weren't you just telling me you've been haunting this place for over a year? What's your rush?"

"I'm tired. This was my favorite place in the whole world, so it was okay at first. I got to see all my friends come in. I could soak up the ambiance without worrying about getting back to the office on time. But I can't join in the conversations, I can't toast my coworker's good fortunes and worst of all I can't eat anything! Maybe if I could take a walk outside every once in a while…"

His voice trailed off as he and Georgia followed the chain protruding from his chest across the floor to where it was attached to a large eyebolt embedded in the linoleum. The chain was just long enough to allow Mr. Takahashi to reach anywhere inside the small tavern, but came up short right at the front door. Well… it wasn't really a door, more like a curtain leading out to the street.

"I can help you with that, Mr. Takahashi. All I'm asking is that in return you help me order a few more things off the menu. This…" Georgia consulted the little notepad she'd picked up in Urahara's shop that morning. "This ton-ka-tsu ramen you recommended is pretty good."

The ghost sighed and sat back on the barstool. "You should try the grilled chicken. It's delicious here."

"Grilled chicken sounds good. How do you say that in Japanese?" Discovering that asking a dead person how something was pronounced would somehow short circuit her translator had changed Georgia's whole approach to Japan. She now had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of dead language teachers to help her get through the day.

"_Yakitori_. But you'd probably like the skinless breast strips best. That's pronounced _sasami yakitori_."

Georgia scribbled in her notebook again. "Okay, now how do I get the waiter's attention?"

"Just say _sumimasen, onegai shimasu_."

After a bit more scribbling, Georgia raised her hand. "Sue-me-ma-sen, oh-na-guy she-moss!"

The man behind the counter turned and walked over. "_Gochoumon mo douzo_?"

Georgia smiled at the man while kicking Mr. Takahashi's leg under the counter.

"He's asking if you'd like to order something else."

Glancing at her notes and then holding up the menu like she could actually read the thing Georgia said, "Hi. Sa-sa-mee yaw-key-tory, coo-da-sigh."

The man narrowed his eyes and gave Georgia a puzzled look, but then he shrugged his shoulders, nodded and walked away.

"I don't understand why you can't speak Japanese better than that. It sounds perfectly normal when you talk to me."

"That's because you're dead, Mr. Takahashi. If someone would just kill all the waiters in Tokyo, I wouldn't need your help."

Suddenly Georgia's purse began buzzing. She dug out her cell phone and flipped it open. "Shit! How do I tell that guy I want the chicken to go?"

"_Mochikaeri_. You're not leaving me here are you?"

Georgia stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thank you, Mr. Takahashi. You've been a big help. When you get tired of walking around I'll be back." She grabbed her soul slayer, drew it and in one smooth clean motion sliced through the chain connecting the obese little ghost to the restaurant floor. After three days she was being to get the hang of this stuff.

o o o

Georgia checked her notepad and then put on her best Happy Time Temporaries smile. "Eggo-day die-joe-boo desk-ah?"

The girl behind the counter tried not to let Georgia see her laugh, but simply holding her hand to her mouth didn't quite work. "Yes, I speak English. How can I help you?"

"I'm supposed to meet someone named S. Morimoto here."

"One moment please, I will look up for you."

The girl turned and began typing into a computer while still snickering over Georgia's horrid Japanese. "_Chuckle all you want, lady_," she though, "_One day you and me are going to understand each other just fine, but you won't be laughing_."

"Morimoto-san's party on forth floor in room A. That is big room at front overlooking street. Have you been karaoke before?"

Georgia remembered a birthday party Joy forced her to attend when she was twelve years old. One of the birthday girl's presents was a karaoke machine. She'd watched several of her classmates get up and humiliate themselves trying to sing along with the thing. Then this shy girl named Becky got up and put on 'Strong Enough'. She sang it perfectly in tune with a beautiful strong voice that made it sound like Sheryl Crow was right there in the room singing it for them. Becky was never invited to another party and the last time Georgia saw her she was selling cosmetics at the mall.

"Yeah, I'm an old hand at this." She waved to the girl behind the counter and headed up the stairs. On the forth floor she walked down the corridor past room after room filled with businessmen in their shirtsleeves, some with their neckties tied around their heads, wailing off key renditions of unfamiliar pop songs.

At the end of the hall was a padded door with a small window set in it. Behind the window Georgia could see a large group of people sitting on a big curved couch in front of the windows. Just as she was trying to think of a reasonable excuse for going inside, the door burst open and a tall blond haired man staggered out.

He was easily over six feet tall and even wearing dark glasses Georgia could tell his face wasn't Asian. He stopped short when he saw her standing there and wobbled precariously while pondering her existence.

"Hello love, you're a bit late. The party's already started."

Georgia shrugged her shoulders and waved her hands about. "Sorry, I got lost."

"I know!" The man leaned over until he was right in her face. The smell of gin was strong on his breath. "Tokyo's a bitch, ain't it? You're okay though, Moji's so damn happy he doesn't even know _he_'s here yet!"

He sounded, smelled and laughed just like Mason on one of his benders. Georgia knew enough to laugh right along as she edged her way around him.

"Tell me, love, did you happen to pass the loo on your way in?"

"Sure, down by the staircase, but you're on your own figuring out which one's which." Georgia pointed down the hall and the tall Englishman staggered off with a wave. She was pretty certain he was not the S. Morimoto she was looking for, so she turned and pulled open the door.

Inside were about a dozen people, half of which weren't Japanese. The center of attention seemed to be a young man with black hair and small round glasses who was busily thumbing through a thick catalog of songs. There was a tub of ice with bottles floating in it, so Georgia fished out the only one with an English label and twisted off the top.

She contemplated shouting out "Morimoto wah da-ray desk-ah?" but then what? With more than half an hour left before the time of death, a beer in her hand and a room full of prospective dead people, she might just as well mingle and see what happens.

Georgia took a seat next to a woman with very short hair who was talking animatedly to a man who looked like the Japanese Elvis right down to his long sideburns and sequined jacket. They were speaking to one another in some hybrid of English and Japanese. She could only understand every other word, but it was fun trying to fill in the blanks. She was so engrossed with the conversation she didn't notice another Asian woman entering the room and crossing over to sit down beside her.

"Is Moji hogging the remote control again?"

"What?" Georgia was startled more by the woman speaking good English then her sudden appearance.

"He just doesn't know how to be humble." The woman grinned as she pointed to the young man at the canter of the big couch who was still thumbing through the song catalog and laughing at something. "It's hard to believe he's actually Japanese."

Georgia took a longer look at the man. He was dressed in a punk style she'd been seeing a lot of on the streets. Spiky hair, lots of piercings, black t-shirt and leather pants held by a belt studded with large chrome spikes. She nodded to the woman and asked, "Have you known him long?"

"We went to UCLA together." When Georgia raised an eyebrow the woman laughed. "I'm American, born and raised in San Francisco. My parents are Korean though, not Japanese. I always wondered why Moji came back home after college. Then I came over for a visit three years ago and fell in love with the place. How about you?"

"Seattle. My parents are... just weird. I'm in Japan on business."

"Oh wow! You must be involved with Moji's book. I still can't believe you're publishing a book by Shinji Morimoto. Did you know he's always said his books would never be appreciated until after his death?"

"Well, the day's not over yet." Georgia looked at the young man again. He seemed like someone at the top of his game with his whole life ahead of him. She checked her watch and thought, "_All five minutes of it._"

Just then Moji stood up and pointed a remote control at the big TV set across the room. After navigating a few menus on the screen, he entered a number and traded the remote for a wireless microphone. As the intro to Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' began to blare out of the speakers, Moji jumped up on the coffee table and struck a rock star pose.

Everyone dived to rescue their drinks from the tabletop as the noticeably tipsy, soon to be ex-author begin dancing and singing the rock classic. Then, just as he got to the line "I don't wanna die..." the floor shook, rattling the coffee table and setting the singer off balance.

Moji took a step backwards to steady himself just as the floor shook again. Someone shouted over the music that it must be an earthquake, but Georgia had been in one of those before and it felt nothing at all like this. The shocks were coming at regular intervals, as if something massive were thundering down the hallway towards them.

Georgia looked to the door just as a huge gray hand slammed into it. The little window shattered into a mosaic of tiny little pieces, which obscured her view of whatever stood on the other side.

As panic set in around the room, Georgia leapt to her feet and seized her soul slayer. She'd recognized the hand that smashed the window as that of a graveling. So the little bastards had their grubby paws in causing mayhem over here after all. And unlike the ones back home, this one didn't seem to care if everyone knew what it was up to.

The moment Georgia laid her hand on the hilt of her soul slayer the graveling behind the door went berserk. It began pounding on the walls and stamping its feet so hard that the whole building seemed to be shaking. On the coffee table Moji continued to dance backwards, trying desperately to regain his balance. Then he took one step too many and the table tipped over.

The heavy tabletop flipped up and smashed into the small man with the force of a hammer. He flew backwards and impacted the plate glass window, which held for a moment until one of the studs on Moji's belt broke the surface tension of the tempered glass and it exploded into sheet of tiny green chips.

Georgia watched in morbid fascination as the young man's physical body slowly fell backwards through a man shaped hole in the glass leaving his spirit standing in the window. A rattling noise drew her attention to the spirit's feet where a coil of bright chain was quickly playing out the window following his body.

She realized too late what was about to happen and dove forward, her soul slayer carving an arc before her. But the strike fell short and the blade swung inches away from the chain still attached to the startled spirit's chest.

Before Georgia could recover and try again, the chain snapped taught and Moji's spirit was yanked through the window and down out of sight. She leapt up to the windowsill and gazed towards the street far below. There, about halfway down, were the two aspects of Shinji Morimoto facing one another from either end of a thirty-foot long spectral chain.

Georgia looked back across the room to the door, which was still shuddering from the blows of the enraged graveling. "He's already dead you idiot! If I get hurt doing this, I'm coming back up here and carving you up like a Thanksgiving turkey!"

Not that she knew the first thing about carving a turkey. Her father had always done the carving on Thanksgiving and she couldn't remember him ever getting even one whole slice off the bird without messing it up. But then her father never had a razor sharp three-foot long curved weapon of spiritual mass destruction to work with.

Georgia glanced down at the plummeting twins one last time and then dove headfirst out the window after them.

o o o

"Sorry I couldn't reach you before you hit bottom." Georgia carefully measured out a reasonably long section of chain and then sliced through it with her sword.

"That's okay," Moji's spirit said with a polite bow. "It was an intriguing experience. I just wish I could write about it."

"Who knows, maybe you will."

"What happens now?"

Georgia sheathed her soul slayer, but held onto the scabbard so as not to pop back into existence in the middle of a police investigation. By the time she'd recovered from the shock of diving headfirst into the pavement and surviving, quite a crowd had gathered around the crumpled remains of the Volkswagen that had broken the author's fall and his neck.

"Well that's really up to you, Mr. Morimoto. I was told death is a journey over here, but if I were you I'd hang around long enough to see if that book of yours really becomes more popular now that you're dead. By the way, what's it called?"

The little man blushed and adjusted his glasses nervously. "Well… its called 'The Myth of the Death God. Why nothing really happens after you die.' I guess I was being a little presumptuous, huh?"

Georgia grinned. "Maybe just a little."

Moji looked up at the remains of the forth floor window where a police officer was busy measuring the hole he'd left falling through it. "I guess the party's over."

"Having the guest of honor die _can_ put a damper on even the finest social gatherings. But I think I saw some of your friends heading into that bar across the street."

He smiled and bowed to her once again. "Thank you death-god-san. Will I see you again?"

"If not me, then maybe a Japanese kid with blonde hair and a lot of attitude. Hey, how do you pronounce death-god in Japanese?"

The little ghost tilted his head to one side and smiled at the blonde caucasian woman dressed the in traditional robes of a samurai. "_Shinigami_, but why ask me?"

"You're an author, of course." She waved and moved off down the street leaving the amused spirit to begin his journey towards the Soul Society.

Georgia hadn't gone very far when her phone went off again. She pulled it out of the folds of her robe and flipped it open. At the top of the display was the word 'Urgent!' and below that 'Y. Takahashi'.

"Boy, he sure got bored fast. I guess he couldn't find anything to eat outside the restaurant either." She chuckled but stopped when she noticed there was a time on this death notice. Follow-ups never had times attached to them and this one was only ten minutes away. She hit the GPS button and checked the distance. She could make it if she ran, but not in the heels she'd worn that morning. She decided to remain in _shinigami_ form and took off in the direction given by the phone.

She made it to the small deserted playground with barely a minute to spare. As she stopped to catch her breath a noise caught her attention. She turned to face it just in time to see Mr. Takahashi come charging out of a thicket of trees. He was screaming at the top of his spectral lungs and running as if his life weren't already over.

"Help me! Its right behind me! Don't let it eat me!"

"Whoa there, Mr. Takahashi." Georgia grabbed the fat little ghost by the arm and dragged him to a halt. "What's gotten into you? You're dead, nothing can eat you."

"Tell that to HIM!"

With a terrified look Mr. Takahashi pointed over her shoulder. She turned to find something the size of an elephant crashing through the same stand of trees where Mr. Takahashi first appeared. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Georgia recognized the gaunt gray limbs and stooped posture of a graveling, but this one was over nine feet tall.

A hideous white mask covered its face and there was a hole the size of a sewer pipe running clear through its chest. It charged straight at them, but stopped short when Georgia drew her soul slayer. Then it just stood there, glaring down at them, while it tried to figure out its next move.

"Okay, I've had just about enough from you guys for one day. Go back to whatever graveyard you hang out in before I decide to slice and dice and make mounds of Julian fries out of your ass."

Then the huge graveling did something quite remarkable. It talked, "What's this then? Smells like _shinigami_ and a ripe one at that. I haven't feasted on the soul of a death-god in a very long time. Put down that pathetic excuse for a weapon and come to me child. I promise to make your end quick and only a little painful."

Georgia gripped the hilt of her soul slayer with sweaty palms. This was like no graveling she'd ever seen before. How did it get so huge? How come it could talk to her? And why in heaven did it want to eat her?

"Save me, _shinigami-san_!" Wailed Mr. Takahashi as he crouched behind her.

"Save you? The damn thing wants to eat _me_!"

"Oh, don't worry. I intend to eat both of you." The thing behind the gruesome mask grinned, revealing a mouth full of monstrous sharp teeth.

Georgia tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. Her knees were beginning to shake and she was about to find out if a spiritual being could wet herself.

"This is why I really _hate_ Wednesdays!"

x x x

Author's Notes:

1) Tonkatsu ramen – one of many ramen noodle dishes favored by Japanese, this one is made with boiled pork.

2) Sasami yakitori – strips of skinless chicken breast on a bamboo skewer grilled and coated with a sweet sauce.

3) Karaoke – unlike karaoke in the west, where the object is usually to make a fool of yourself in front of a bar full of strangers, the Japanese like to do their off key singing in front of friends and collogues.

4) Loo – British term for a toilet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Wednesday Evening**

The ballet lessons were originally Joy's idea. Georgia's mother often tried living out her own fantasies through her eldest daughter, at least until Georgia's personality or clumsiness got in the way. But something out of the ordinary happened during the ballet classes.

While she was initially just as ambivalent to ballet as she was to all of her mother's ideas, Georgia soon realized she actually liked dancing. She was no ballerina by any means, but she did enjoy twirling. The instructor, an older woman with a broad smile and a foreign accent, patiently tried to teach her how to spin on her toes, but Georgia was a chubby little five year old and her ankles just weren't strong enough to support her weight.

When the class held its first recital, Joy went overboard and dressed her daughter in a brand new pink leotard complete with crinoline tutu and tiara. All the other girls were wearing their regular practice outfits and Georgia was embarrassed. It didn't stop her from enjoying the performance though. She twirled and twirled, bumping into other girls, chairs, the piano and even a wall. But it was fun and Georgia wished she could just twirl and dance like that forever.

Then the music stopped and Joy went on the warpath. She grabbed Georgia by the arm and dragged her over to confront the instructor. "What kind of ballet teacher are you? You were supposed to make her into a ballerina, not some circus clown!"

The instructor tried to explain that Georgia was just beginning to learn the basics, but Joy was too mortified to stand there and listen. She dragged Georgia to the car and that was the end of ballet lessons. Georgia never danced in public again, but in the privacy of her room she would sometimes twirl for hours on end.

o o o

Spiritual bodies are strange things. They appear to have the shape and strength of corporeal bodies, but without the weight of gravity pulling on you it was sometimes possible to do things no human was capable of. Not that Georgia was known for leaping tall buildings in a single bound or running faster than a speeding bullet, but in the present situation she was willing to give anything a try.

That is if Mr. Takahashi weren't clinging to her like a leech. The fat little ghost was using her like a shield, always keeping the blonde _shinigami_ between himself and the grotesque manifestation of a graveling threatening to eat them both. Georgia had to keep pushing him back as the hollow continued to press them slowly across the playground.

She kicked again at Mr. Takahashi, but this time he didn't move. When a second kick did nothing more than elicit a tiny frightened yelp she dared to glance away from the advancing hollow to see what was wrong with him. They had backed into something resembling a concrete igloo covered with big holes and Mr. Takahashi was sitting on the ground with his back pressed up against it.

"Get inside! Quick!"

"Inside this? I'll never fit inside this thing."

"Would you rather end up inside _that_ thing?" Georgia used her soul-slayer to point towards the grinning hollow now several feet closer than it had been when she looked away. She heard the sound of scrambling feet behind her and began edging her way to the right.

"So, trying to rid yourself of distractions, _shinigami_?" The monster reared back with laughter, making it taller and even more menacing than before. "Excellent! Now we'll see what you can do with that kitchen knife you've been waving around."

Georgia was at an impasse. She couldn't just run away and leave Mr. Takahashi to become the hollow's dinner, but she had the terrible feeling her first swing at the massive beast would also be her last. So far she'd only swung the sword at living humans who didn't even know she was there. This thing would probably knock the soul-slayer from her shaky hands and bite her head off in one easy motion.

"Georgia-san! Get down!"

Both Georgia and the hollow looked up to find four bright points of light arcing towards them trailing long streamers of smoke. Georgia dove for the cover of the concrete igloo while the hollow hesitated just a second too long trying to pick a direction in which to run.

The rockets hit the ground at the hollow's feet, knocking it down and rolling it away from the igloo and Georgia. She sprang back to her feet as the dust settled and looked for the source of the incoming fire. There on a pair of fiberglass rocking horses stood Jinta and Ururu. The girl holding an oversized rocket launcher while the boy swung a huge baseball bat over his shoulder.

"Run for it you idiot!" Jinta shouted at her.

Before Georgia could move, the hollow lurched to its feet again. Facing the children it roared in anger. "You'll pay for that you meddling kids! More _shinigami_, my feast just keeps getting bigger all the time."

"Give him another round, Ururu." Jinta said smugly.

"I can't," the little girl cried apologetically while frantically pulling at the rocket launcher's trigger. "It's jammed!"

"Jammed? Not good!"

The kids jumped from their perch and made a run for it, but the advancing hollow cut them off and cornered them against the playground's fence. Jinta took up a defensive stance with his bat while Urara continued trying to get the rocket launcher to fire.

"I just love a nice little appetizer before a big meal!" The hollow's putrid tongue licked at the painted on lips of its mask as it closed in on the children.

"Leave - them - alone!"

It is called _en pointe_, the position of standing on the tips of your toes. As elusive as this had once been for Georgia as a child, her spiritual body had no problem now rising _en pointe_ even without the support of ballet slippers. She executed a quick series of _Pas de Bourrée_ to close the distance with the hollow, her soul-slayer held high above her head. Then she launched into the _Fouetté_, a sweeping spin on one leg propelled by a whipping motion of the other.

As she spun around, her soul-slayer came down and sliced cleanly through the hollow's neck just behind the edge of its mask. Black fetid blood poured from the wound as she rotated in place on the tips of her toes. Her sword continued to sweep downward, missing the ground by millimeters before swinging up again to bury itself deep in the monster's skull.

The hollow shuddered from the impact, but did not fall. It stood there convulsing as cracks slowly appeared on the mask. The cracks widened and spread across its face until with a loud snap the mask broke in two and half of it fell to the ground.

Georgia put her foot on the side of the beast's head and pulled the sword from its skull. The monster fell away from her, landing on its side with a great thump. She stared at the blade in her hand with wonder, even covered in black blood and bits of brains it glowed with a spiritual light of its own.

She hadn't paid the sword much attention until now, it was just something Urahara had thrust into her hands and told her to use. But looking at the long curved blade she was suddenly appalled by the muck covering it. Nothing so vile and offensive should ever be allowed to defile something so beautiful. She quickly used her own robes to clean away the goop until the metal gleamed brightly once again.

The hollow lay motionless on the ground before her, but Georgia approached it cautiously. It certainly looked dead, but she wasn't sure a graveling could even be killed. She had always assumed they were un-dead just like her. She circled guardedly around to face the beast and then froze.

Where she expected to find the gray mottled face of a graveling staring out from beneath the broken mask, she instead found the plump round face of a middle-aged Asian woman. The only thing marring her otherwise normal appearance was the look of stark terror in her lifeless eyes.

Georgia didn't consider herself an exceptionally sympathetic person, but compassion overwhelmed her and ignoring the dangers she knelt down before the immense skull. She raised her soul-slayer and set the butt end of the hilt gently against the hollow's forehead. Golden light spread across its skin, but rather than coalesce into a butterfly the massive form disintegrated into thousands of fireflies. They rose fluttering into the air and quietly disappeared.

"Great job, Georgia-san!" Urara cried out as she and Jinta joined her.

"I can't believe you managed to kill a hollow." Jinta seemed shell-shocked by the very idea. "And then you buried its soul too."

They heard the sound of someone clapping and when Georgia looked up she saw Urahara and Tessai walking through the front gates. The old hippy in the green stripped hat stooped to pick up the remains of the hollow's mask. Waving it in the air like a fan he said, "Georgia-san, you continue to surprise me. That was some impressive fighting you just did."

"Fighting?" Jinta shouted scornfully. "You call that fighting? That was no fighting style I've ever seen. She left herself wide open. If Urara and I hadn't been distracting…"

"Quiet, Jinta!" Urahara snapped. "Can't you see Georgia-san has something she wants to ask me?"

Red faced with anger, Georgia stood up. "You're damn right I have something to ask you. What the hell was that thing?"

"That was a hollow." Urahara's calm smile never changed. "And as we discussed the other night, a hollow is nothing more than what you call a graveling."

"Bullshit! That was no graveling. Gravelings are mischievous little bastards who show up at death scenes. They're not the size of an eighteen-wheeler. They don't wear ugly white masks over human faces. And they definitely don't eat dead people and soul-reapers."

"Ah… but they would if they had been corrupted the same way the hollows were. Once Japan had gravelings that looked and acted much the same as those everywhere else. Then something happened and they learned to devour the souls of the dead, taking their power and becoming the monsters we see now."

"I don't believe you. You're hiding something."

Urahara bowed his head. "I see the time for simple explanations has passed. There is indeed much more I can tell you, Georgia-san, but now is not the time or place. The rift that hollow used to enter this world is still open and you too have some unfinished business to attend."

Using his cane as a pointer, Urhara indicated the concrete igloo where Mr. Takahashi's pouting face protruded from the top hole. He then handed the remains to the hollow's mask to Tessia. "Be sure to dispose of this properly and then prepare the cavern."

"Right, boss."

"Jinta, stop sulking and take Urara back to the shop. Figure out what's wrong with her weapon and then clean the place up."

"But what about the other hollow?"

"I've already taken care of that. Now go! Georgia-san, we'll meet back at the shop later and discuss this over dinner. I'll make sure there's something you can eat this time. Okay?"

Georgia's foul mood was fading. It was probably the next and hopefully final stage of shock, so she nodded her head demurely and trudged over to where Mr. Takahashi was waiting.

"Um… I managed to squeeze in here, but now I can't get out."

The little man looked so ridiculous Georgia couldn't help but smile at his predicament. "I'm sorry Mr. Takahashi, but the only way I know how to get you out of there is to send you on to the Soul Society."

"Are… are there more of those… _things_ out there?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd be surprised if there aren't."

"Then I'm ready!"

After watching Mr. Takahashi's fat little butterfly disappear into the night sky, Georgia finally slid her soul-slayer into its scabbard. Feeling suddenly exhausted, she went and sat down on the swing set. Closing her eyes and swinging gently back and forth she tried to collect her thoughts.

The reason these people needed help collecting souls was obvious now. If Rube and the gang had to deal with giant ravenous gravelings all day, they wouldn't have time to collect souls either. Why the hollows became such monsters and what was keeping the gravelings back home from the same fate would have to wait. Right now she needed to sort out her feelings.

She'd never been a fighter before, she was too cynical to take up a cause and defend it, but something had definitely changed that tonight. Sure the hollow had threatened the children, but for all she knew Jinta and Urara had been children since long before her grandmother was born. It was something else and it had something to do with the soul-slayer…

She sighed and opened her eyes only to find she was not along. Under a bush at the edge of the playground sat a large gray rabbit, twitching its nose and staring intently at her. "I didn't know they had rabbits in Japan," she said to herself.

The rabbit nodded its head intelligently and Georgia blinked. Remembering the black cat named Yoruichi she smiled at the rabbit and asked sarcastically, "Don't tell me, you're a _shinigami_ too?"

"No, I'm not a death god." the rabbit said. Then it winced as Georgia slipped off the swing and landed on the ground with a thud.

"Ouch! I've really got to get out of the habit of talking to strange animals."

"I apologize for startling you," the rabbit said as it hopped over and sat down next to her. "I merely wanted to commend you on your victory over the hollow. You truly surprised me, George."

Georgia stood up, rubbing her rear end and dusting off her skirt. "Yeah, the beach bum said that already. Hey, did you just call me George?"

"Would you rather I call you something else?"

"No." Georgia looked quizzically at the little rabbit. It looked like any other rabbit she'd ever seen outside of a cartoon except that its eyes appeared more human. That and the fact it was talking started to creep her out a little. "George is just fine."

"Very well then, George. My name is Hanegetsu. If you ever get into trouble, just call out my name and I'll do what I can."

Georgia tried to imagine what sort of help a rabbit could be in fighting a hollow. Then she remembered a Monty Python movie she'd seen once and laughed out loud.

"You're a 'killer' rabbit, eh? Ha-nay-get-sue?"

"Close enough, we can work on that later. You'd better be going now. I think your boss intends to introduce you to Benihime tonight."

"Is that anything like Benihana? I sure hope so! I could use a good steak dinner."

**Friday **

Georgia yawned so wide an observant passerby might have been able to see what she'd had for breakfast. Rice, thin soup, smoked fish and some hard little yellow disks Tessia insisted were pickles. It wasn't breakfast by the standards of Der Waffle Haus, but that little corner of her former life… and death… now seemed nothing more than a happy dream she'd once had.

Urahara's two night crash course in swordsmanship had left Georgia exhausted and bewildered. Part physical conditioning with a healthy dose of mysticism thrown in, fighting with a soul-slayer was so much more than she imagined it would be.

Wednesday night, over a dinner of pepperoni and corn pizza, he told her everything known about hollows and how they had become monsters. How the thirteen divisions of the Soul Society's inner court worked together to force the hollows into Hueco Mundo, the dimension separating heaven and earth. And how recently the hollows had mysteriously become stronger and bolder in their attacks.

They moved down into the practice cavern and Urahara began teaching Georgia the basics of Japanese sword fighting. From his cane he pulled a slender sword, which he called Benihime, the Crimson Princess. For hours on end he attacked her with it until the ring of steel against steel had become as familiar as the clicking of keyboards at Happy Times Temporaries.

On the second night of her training Urahara demonstrated the spiritual power of Benihime's initial 'release' by blasting boulders into dust. He showed her how to predict such attacks from hollows and avoid them if she could. He also let a few of them hit her to prove she could withstand them up to a point.

The old hippy had encouraged her use of ballet moves. Not for attacking with her sword, but rather as a means of evasion and escape. "Running away," he'd said, "is the only defense against lack of experience."

And just when Georgia thought she had seen everything, Urahara unleashed Benihime's _bankai_ form. Her mind still reeled from the transformation and the display of raw spiritual energy. She wondered what sort of horrors from beyond the grave required that kind of power to defeat?

No, this was not Seattle and breakfast wasn't going to be blueberry pancakes any more. The death-gods, for she was finally ready to see them as such, were not the kind of people to sit around discussing the relative virtue of waffles over French toast. These people were in a battle for the very balance of existence itself.

Georgia took out the cell phone and checked her messages. She still had three soul burials to do, but they were all on the other side of Tokyo and could wait for later in the day. It was hot and she was still emotionally drained by the two suicides she'd released during the morning rush hour.

She looked up at the clock on its tower at the center of the shady tree-filled park she'd found near Urahara's store. The sound of cicadas rang loudly in her ears and somewhere in the distance someone was grilling a fishy smelling barbeque. It wouldn't hurt just to hang out here for a while, even if every Japanese person who walked by sped up to avoid the suspicious foreigner sitting on their park bench.

There had been plenty of them a while ago, jogging past her on their way to and from lunch, but now the park was rather deserted. She hadn't seen anyone for several minutes and then a boy appeared on the path. She watched him running towards her and recognized Jinta at about the same time he spotted her. He started to turn and run the other way, but she waved at him and he stopped. With his shoulders slumped he slowly trudged the rest of the way down the path.

"Hello, Jinta," Georgia said with a deadpan expression.

"Don't you have work to do?" Jinta looked very uncomfortable. His disapproval of Georgia had only increased after she defeated the hollow. He'd only come to watch Georgia practice in the cavern once and left after only a short period of time.

"I could ask you the same question. What are you doing out of the shop on such a hot day?"

"Nothing that concerns you." Jinta scowled at her, but Georgia could tell he was desperately trying not to look guilty about something.

"Georgia-san!" Urara came skipping up to them from the opposite direction. The little _shinigami_ looked cute dressed in a pink jumper and sporting a pink baseball helmet. With her pigtails sticking out from the holes on either side she looked like a dark-haired, almond eyed version of Georgia's sister Reggie.

"Hello, Urara. I see you're playing hooky from the store as well today."

"Uh huh! Jinta and I are supposed to meet…"

"She doesn't need to know what we're doing," Jinta snapped.

Georgia looked at the boy and noticed he too was dressed differently than usual. His bright red shorts and ball cap seemed to compliment what Urara was wearing. Then with a sudden burst of recognition, Georgia smiled broadly. "You're playing Power Rangers, aren't you?"

"We're not _playing_ anything!" Jinta's embarrassment was obvious now.

"Yes you are!" Georgia laughed. "You're the Red Ranger and Urara is the Pink Ranger."

The little girl giggled and nodded her head. In spite of himself, Jinta looked a little less humiliated at being recognized as the Red Ranger.

"So where are the other Rangers? What are there, five altogether?"

"There's only two more," Urara said. "Karin and Yuzu are supposed to meet us here."

"Are they death-gods too?"

"No, they're just Ichigo's sisters, but they can both see hollows and dead spirits." Jinta's hard exterior seemed to be cracking. He must not have expected a foreigner to know anything about the Power Rangers.

"Ichigo? You mean tall, blond and full of attitude?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Yuzu is the yellow Ranger and Karin has a lot of spiritual power like her brother."

"Really? And what color Ranger is Karin."

Jinta scowled again and refused to answer. Georgia suspected a power struggle was underway for the top Ranger spot and couldn't wait to meet the girl yanking the other end of Jinta's chain.

"Well it all sounds like a lot of fun. Would you mind if I tag along? I've always wondered what the original Power Rangers looked like. Besides, maybe I'll pick up some fighting tips from the Red Ranger himself."

Jinta stared down at his feet. "We're called the Karakura Superheros. I guess you can come along, just don't get in the way, all right?"

Georgia grinned. "You'll never know I'm there. And if anyone asks I'll tell them I'm your British nanny." She winked at Urara who giggled in reply.

They began walking down the path together with Georgia trailing behind the children. This was just the sort of diversion she needed to get her mind off the whole hollow fighting thing. And watching these death-god children at play might just give her some insight into Charlie the pet reaper back home. She'd always wondered if he had anyone to play with when he wasn't releasing the souls of animals.

"Hey, Jinta. Are you the ringleader of this little band of super heroes?"

"Um… Well, no. The leader's someone… it's a little hard to explain who the leader is actually."

"Oh really? Why is that?"

Georgia felt the man's presence behind her only moments before she heard him shout, "Bu-wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

x x x

Author's Notes:

1) Pas de Bourrée – A traveling step performed on pointe as a series of swift miniature steps.

2) Hanegetsu – literally means Leaping Moon.

3) Benihime – Urahara's soul-slayer, literally means Crimson Princess.

4) Benihana – A chain of Japanese steak house restaurants.


End file.
